


No. 4 Running Out of Time (Arthur and Merlin)

by Onehelluvapilot



Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: (it'll be resolved in the next fic in the series), Alternate Universe - Supernatural (TV) Fusion, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26816320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot
Summary: “Did you ever think that this is how you might die?” Merlin asked. “Asphyxiated in your own bunker?” The air had passed beyond thin to the point where it had taken him minutes of deep breathing to get enough air into his lungs to speak.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952440
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	No. 4 Running Out of Time (Arthur and Merlin)

“Did you ever think that this is how you might die?” Merlin asked. “Asphyxiated in your own bunker?” The air had passed beyond thin to the point where it had taken him minutes of deep breathing to get enough air into his lungs to speak.

“Save your breath, Merlin,” Arthur advised, moving his hand with difficulty to lay it on his friend’s arm. And yes, now, at the end of everything, he could acknowledge that the secretary was his friend. The two of them sat beside one another at the top of the stairs, back to the door and looking down over the war room and library. They’d long ago lost the energy to move.

“I mean, I thought… if an earthquake was going... to take me out… it would at least… be a big one,” Merlin said, not listening to Arthur’s orders, as usual. It had been four days since they’d felt some minor shaking and the power had abruptly shut off to the bunker. Apparently, the old and outdated system had thought that the earthquake was some great and terrible magical threat. Which made sense, they supposed, given that the bunker had been constructed before fracking and the man-made quakes it caused in an otherwise geologically stable area. Anyway, the deadlock seals had fallen into place and now it could only be undone from the outside. The signal boosters that allowed cell signals to escape through tons of rock and earth had gone down, as had the wifi. Merlin had tried scrying out, but it had never been one of his talents, so he hadn’t been able to contact Lancelot. Their only hope was that Gaius or one of the other hunters, all of whom had been outside at the time, either noticed they weren’t responding and realized something was wrong or came back to the bunker after finishing their hunt.

“Merlin?” Arthur asked. The skinny magical secretary/hunter had leaned against him in his exhaustion, head now resting on his broad shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up,” the Man of Letters said fondly. It was probably the last time he’d say it, he realized. He hoped desperately that his friend knew everything it really meant. Everything he wished he’d said before but didn’t have enough strength to explain now. He let his own head loll to the side, cheek pressing into Merlin’s raven-dark hair.

Struggling to remember his father’s lessons on all the different ways one could die, he wondered how long they would have after they passed out. Probably minutes. At least they weren't actually being strangled. They wouldn't suffer. His father's voice in his head screamed at him to keep fighting. It had been yelling for days now that he kill Merlin, give himself a chance since that way only one person would be using up the air. He'd shut that thought down immediately and didn't regret it. He couldn't imagine life, or death, without Merlin. Struggling now to keep his eyes open, he let them drift closed.

**Author's Note:**

> To be continued tomorrow


End file.
